Sparking or smothering darkness: Motivational climates influence the leader grandiose narcissism–follower trust relation via leader self-serving behaviour

Abstract

Research suggests that the effects of leader narcissism can be complex and context dependent, causing a lack of clarity about the conditions under which leader narcissism affects follower perceptions. We posit that the organizational climate plays an important moderating role in the relationships between leader narcissism, leader self-serving behaviour and follower trust. Based on trait activation theory, we argue that organizational-level cues can spark or smother narcissistic leaders' self-serving behaviour with downstream consequences for followers' trust. Our focus lies on motivational climates in organizations, encompassing both performance climate and mastery climate, as providers of trait-relevant cues. A multilevel and multisource survey of 546 leaders and 1718 followers supports the hypothesized relationships. We find a negative effect of leader narcissism on trust in the leader via leader self-serving behaviour when the performance climate is high (vs. low). We also find a negative effect of leader narcissism on trust in the leader via leader self-serving behaviour when the mastery climate is low (vs. high). We discuss how leader self-serving behaviour as a quintessential behavioural expression of leader narcissism is sensitive to specific cues from the organizational context, how motivational climates help to inform the understanding of leader narcissism, and the practical implications.